US Consumer Time Spent With Media Inched Up 0.3% in 2017, As Digital Media Usage Grows Across All Generation Demos, Fueled By Mobile Audio, Video, Books, Games & News

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US consumer media usage & exposure, including all digital and traditional media, inched up 0.3% in 2017 to an average of 70.7 hours per week (HPW), driven by 6% growth in digital media usage to 26.4 HPW, according to new data released by PQ Media.

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US consumer media usage & exposure, including all digital and traditional media, inched up 0.3% in 2017 to an average of 70.7 hours per week (HPW), driven by 6% growth in digital media usage to 26.4 HPW, according to new data released by PQ Media. Consumer time spent with media in the US is projected to grow 1.2% in 2018, boosted by increased cross-channel viewing of the Winter Olympics and contentious political campaigns in the fall, according to PQ Media’s Global Consumer Media Usage & Exposure Forecast 2017-21.

Digital media usage & exposure accounted for 37.4% of all US consumer time spent with media in 2017, capturing nearly 13 share points from traditional media in the 2011-17 period. Relatively strong growth of digital media usage has been increasingly powered by the transition of end-user access and consumption to wireless devices and mobile media, particularly mobile audio, video, books, games and news, all of which grew faster than 20% in 2017. Mobile audio was the fastest-growing digital channel in the US, as consumer time spent streaming music downloads and listening to radio via digital subscription services, such as Spotify, amped up over 30%, according to PQ Media.

For the first time, aggregate mobile media usage (9.1 HPW) surpassed that of internet media (8.1 HPW) in 2017, as consumer internet usage declined 4.4%, the steepest drop ever. Weighing down overall internet media usage were declines in time spent with four of the top five internet channels, including online social media, games, search and audio. But while mobile media and devices have fueled overall digital media usage growth during the past five years, key indicators point to decelerating mobile and, consequently, overall digital media growth in the next several years, as wireless device penetration nears saturation, consumers wait longer to upgrade smartphones and fewer end users purchase first-time computer tablets.

Over-the-top (OTT) video was the only non-mobile media channel to post double-digit growth in 2016 or 2017, as streaming video services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, raised the bar for the entire cross-channel video market by launching an array of original scripted programming that has drawn top talent and big budgets. OTT video was, by far, the most used digital channel, though it has yet to reach an average of one hour per day of viewing, according to PQ Media’s Global Consumer Media Usage & Exposure Forecast 2017-21.

Meanwhile, US traditional media usage declined 2.9% to 44.2 HPW in 2017, the fastest rate of decline in three years. “While cord cutting continues among younger generations, causing live television viewing to decrease 2.1% in 2017, US consumers still spent more time watching live TV (26.7 HPW) than they did using all digital media combined (26.4 HPW),” said PQ Media President Patrick Quinn. “Despite the continued slide in live TV, total television viewing, including traditional and digital platforms, remains the elephant in the room. In fact, Americans are spending more time than ever watching TV because we have 24/7 access to our favorite video programming on all devices.”

US consumers spent an average of 4.8 hours per day in 2017 watching video, including live TV, OTT, mobile and internet, accounting for over 50% of overall consumer media usage in 2017. Nevertheless, time spent with all eight traditional media platforms declined last year, with physical music and physical film & home video both dropping at double-digit rates.

Regarding demographic groups, the Greatest Generation (born pre-1945) spent the most time with all media at 89.9 HPW in 2017, followed by GenX (born 1965-1980) at 85.4 HPW and Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964) with 84.5 HPW. iGens (born post-1996) spent 53% of their media usage time on digital devices to access content, although they spent less than 6 hours per day with all media. In contrast, the greatest generation spent almost 13 hours daily with media, but only 22% of that time with digital media.

The new Forecast covers the 2011-21 period in a core report delivering 450 PowerPoint slides featuring 850 datagraphs and over 250,000 datapoints. The core report is supplemented with a companion Excel databook that drills down into the 20 largest media markets, providing hundreds of deep-dive datasets by country, platform, channel, generation and gender. To download a free executive summary and sample datasets click: http://www.pqmedia.com/gcmuef2017.html

About PQ Media:

PQ Media delivers intelligent data and analysis to executives at the world’s leading media & technology organizations through a wide range of syndicated research reports, custom market research and strategic advisory services. PQ Media uses a proprietary econometric methodology to define, segment, size, analyze and project the growth of media operator revenues, consumer time spent with media and consumer spending on media content & technology worldwide, including over 100 digital & traditional media platforms and channels.